Making the Signs Known
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maṇiyiṟ ṟikaḻtaru nūlpōṉ maṭantai / yaṇiyiṟ ṟikaḻvatoṉ ṟuṇṭu.
Like the thread that shows through the crystal beads strung on it, there is something inside this woman's adornment that lies within and is visible from outside.
▸Other translations · Pope (1886) & Aiyar (1916)
“As through the crystal beads is seen the thread on which they 're strung / So in her beauty gleams some thought cannot find a tongue.”
“Even as the thread that is seen through the crystal bead, there is a thought that is now passing in her bosom, but which is yet plainly visible.”
Parimelazhagar’s commentary
13th century · public domainParimelazhagar’s own words come first, unaltered. The plain reading follows below.
மணியில் திகழ்தரும் நூல்போல்= கோக்கப்பட்ட பளிக்குமணி யகத்துக் கிடந்து புறத்துப் புலனாம் நூல்போல; மடந்தை அணியில் திகழ்வது ஒன்று உண்டு= இம்மடந்தையது அணியகத்துக் கிடந்து புறத்துப் புலனாகின்றதொரு குறிப்பு உண்டு, எ-று.
Source: Tamil Wikisource
Parimelazhagar builds the comparison carefully. Take a crystal bead that has been strung: the thread lies inside it and yet is plainly seen from outside. In the same way, he says, there is a kuṟippu — a sign, an intention — lying inside this woman's adornment and becoming visible outside it. Two things are worth noticing in his gloss. He does not say she is showing anything, so nothing is being sent to the speaker. And he keeps the sign unnamed: he says only that one exists. What makes it visible is not her, but the nature of what it is inside.